


A Monster in the Maze

by Queen_BeeChloe



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Hawkmoth is still the main villain though, Humor, Original Character(s), POV Multiple, They're villains, and didn't want to just tack these powers on to existing characters, i had this idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-04-20 01:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14250570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_BeeChloe/pseuds/Queen_BeeChloe
Summary: It all started with a supervillain who didn't hang around long enough to be defeated.She'd show up, only to disappear as soon as Ladybug and Chat Noir tried to fight her, leaving whole sections of city destroyed behind her.Then Chat Noir started acting, well, a little too much like himself.Then people started raining from the sky and randomly showing up in rivers and freezers, and Ladybug doesn't know exactly what to do about it.The strangest part? It's happening twice, in both the past and the future.And it's about to get even more complicated.





	1. The Comet Fell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so first things first.
> 
> This work is going to contain spoilers for season 2. If for some reason you haven't watched season 2 yet and you don't want it to be spoiled for you, I wouldn't read this. At least not until you've seen it. Or decided you don't care about spoilers.
> 
> Next: chapter one and two have been updated. And by that, I mean changed drastically. I'm uploading the new chapters right before chapter three, so if you read chapter one and two before three was up, you should definitely read them again. And let me know what you think! I know the last version was really confusing. I tried to resolve some of that.
> 
> Other important information about this work:
> 
> This is time travel au. It's in the tags, so if you're reading this, you're probably cool with that. Here's what you should know about it.
> 
> This story takes place during two different points in time, and it has characters from two other points in time.
> 
> Point 1 shall hereafter be referred to as the Past, to avoid confusion. It is the point in the timeline that most of the story will be told in. It takes place at the beginning of the second season. The first scene of chapter one is actually in the show, so that should help you understand when exactly the stuff in this timeline is happening. Note: plenty of scenes will be similar to the show, but with small or important details changed. This is done intentionally, and is part of the time travel shenanigans.
> 
> Point 2 is a point after the episodes of season 2, but not too far in the future. The only characters from this time period are the OC's, so it's not that important. None of the story will actually take place in this time period.
> 
> Point 3 will be referred to as the Future. It is the other point in time that the story will take place in. It's a little over a year in the future from the Past, and a lot of things have changed.
> 
> Point 4 is unimportant at this point. I will explain it when it becomes relevant.
> 
> I will never change time points on you within a chapter. The entire chapter will always occur in the point in time it started in. However, the point of view character will be a character who is in that timeline, not a character who is from that timeline. So part of the chapter may be told by someone from the Past who is still in the Past, and the next part might be told by a character from the Future who is stuck in the Past. But it will stay in the Past if it started in the past.
> 
> However, if there is a small time skip, like forward a couple of hours or to the next morning, there will be an extra large space. Like this
> 
>  
> 
> And if the point of view changes within the chapter, which may happens sometimes, I will put an extra large space with asterisks in the middle of it.
> 
> But I will always try to clarify whose view it is and exactly when it is within the first few paragraphs of each chapter or section break as well.
> 
> Additionally, there will be an easy way to tell if it is a Future chapter or a Past chapter by the chapter titles. The Past chapters will have the titles written in past tense (ex. The Comet Fell) and the Future chapter titles will be written in present tense (The Comet Falls instead of The Comet Fell). But I will try to also make it clear early on in the chapter with the context of the chapter.
> 
> Final notes: a lot of the stuff that's going to happen or be referenced as having happened by people from the Future may seem unlikely to happen in the show. That's because I'm not attempting to predict anything here. I'm just doing what seems like the most fun to write in this work, as long as it's fitting with the characters and the ways that I think makes the most sense for them to develop.
> 
> Additionally, keep in mind that characters from the future have undergone a lot of development. Their personalities will be based on the canon, but not a hundred percent canon. It's okay! I will give insight into that development throughout the story, and show some of that development happening with the Past characters as well.

Before she had met Adrien, Mr. Agreste was just her favorite designer. 

 

Now, he was Adrien's dad, and so she was even more glad that he hadn't turned out to be Hawkmoth. That would have been so devastating for Adrien. Just the idea of it had even bothered Chat Noir. It would have been so much worse for his son. 

 

Marinette looked up at Mr. Agreste pleadingly. "Are you going to let Adrien come back to school?" 

 

"Well, considering that he didn't actually lose my book, as it was borrowed by you, yes I will," Mr. Agreste said. 

 

Marinette grinned and did an excited little dance she couldn’t quite stop herself from doing. "Thank you!" She said, picking up her backpack. 

 

Mr. Agreste's assistant, Nathalie, put her hand on Marinette's back and led her to the door. 

 

Marinette had just stepped through it when something occurred to her. She stopped, her eyes narrowing as she thought for a second. 

 

Then she turned back around and looked past Nathalie, at Mr. Agreste. 

 

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked. 

 

Adrien's dad nodded. 

 

"I flipped through the book, and... it looked really awesome," Marinette said, doing her best to sound like an innocent, curious, totally clueless girl. "Those illustrations of legendary heroes are super... inspiring. Where did you get it?" 

 

"I found it while I was on a trip overseas with my wife. I've never seen another copy of it," Mr. Agreste answered coldly. The coldness may not have been on purpose, though. It seemed like it was just his natural tone. 

 

Marinette smiled at him. She couldn't see why so many people seemed to think he was so scary. Sure, his demeanor was a bit intimidating, but he seemed pretty harmless. "Well, then, you're very lucky to have it." She gave him a little wave as she turned to walk away and the door closed behind her. 

 

Once outside the gates, Tikki popped her head out of Marinette's purse. "It was really brave, what you just did for Adrien." 

 

"Thanks, Tikki," Marinette said, smiling. "All that really matters, is for Adrien to be allowed out of the house again." 

 

She started to walk away, but she had only taken a couple of steps when she saw something in the sky. 

 

She stopped walking and looked up, and her eyes went wide, her jaws dropping as she saw it. 

 

Not that she knew what "it" was. It was too small to be a satellite, unless Marinette was seriously mistaken about the typical size of a satellite. And she doubted it was a comet. Last time she'd checked, comets didn't glow green. 

 

But whatever it was, it was hurtling down toward her. And it was moving way too fast for her to transform, or even to step sideways far enough for it to miss her. It wasn't that small. 

 

But the not-a-comet changed directions right before it plowed into her, angling up slightly to shoot over the gates, heading straight for Adrien's house. 

 

Straight for Adrien's room. 

 

Marinette's blood froze as she watched in horror. 

 

The not-a-comet was almost to the house. And then suddenly, it was gone, not a trace of it anywhere. 

 

Marinette blinked a few times and forced herself to breathe again. "Tikki, did you see that?" 

 

Tikki looked up at Marinette. "The green thing?" 

 

"No. I mean yes. I mean... did it look almost like... a person, to you? Just... with two heads?" Marinette asked, stumbling over the words. 

 

Tikki frowned. "I didn't see it very well, but people don't have two heads." 

 

"I know," Marinette said. "Still, whatever it was, it's weird that it was so human-shaped." 

 

She fell silent for a long moment, lost in thought. 

 

What could that green thing have been, and how had it just disappeared like that? 

 

"Two people have two heads." 

 

Marinette blinked, snapping out of her reverie, and stared wordlessly at Tikki for a second before she spoke. "What?" 

 

"Two people have two heads," Tikki said again. "Maybe that was what you saw." She paused. "Although, I don't know why two people would be glowing and crashing out of the sky like that." 

 

"Could it have been the work of an akuma?" Marinette asked. That didn't seem right, but akumatized villains took all kinds of forms with all kinds of powers, so maybe it was somehow. 

 

Tikki frowned. "It didn't feel like that to me." 

 

"It didn't feel that way to me either," Marinette admitted. She smiled reassuringly at Tikki's pensive face. "Guess it must have just been a trick of the light, or something." 

 

Tikki nodded, though she still looked a little bothered. 

 

Marinette took one last look at the Agreste house, like a hole might suddenly appear where the not-a-comet had almost crashed into it, but everything looked normal. 

 

It was all really weird, but it hadn't actually done anything, so there wasn't anything for her to fix, or to fight. 

 

She shrugged and walked away. 

 

 

 * * * * *

 

Adrien watched as his father put the book back into the safe. 

 

"I'm sorry I was so enraged over a book, Adrien," he said. 

 

Adrien looked down. "I should have taken it without even asking you first." 

 

Gabriel looked down himself, just for a moment, in something that was almost a display of weakness. "I only became so angry because that book was the last present your mother ever gave me before... Before her disappearance. It's all that I have left of her, besides you." He turned around to face Adrien. "But I know that I can't keep either of you here in this house forever," he said, walking toward Adrien. 

 

Adrien's eyes widened. "Are you going to let me go back to school?" 

 

His father nodded slightly. 

 

Adrien smiled. "Thank you, Father."   
 

He wanted to hug him, but that wasn't something they did a lot, and he didn't know how his father would respond. So he resisted the impulse. 

 

His father nodded again and turned away from Adrien, going back to his desk and his work. "Tell Nathalie to come in on your way out." 

 

Adrien nodded and left obediently, smiling to himself at the knowledge that he was no longer going to be trapped in this house. He was free again. He'd be back at school tomorrow. 

 

He sent Nathalie in and headed up to his room.  

 

Plagg zoomed out of his jacket and scanned the room like he was looking for cheese, as if he hadn't eaten it all before they went downstairs to talk to Gabriel. 

 

"Did you hear that, Plagg?" Adrien asked excitedly. "I get to go back to school." 

 

"I still don't get why you want to," Plagg said. Not seeing any cheese, he floated down to rest on Adrien's desk. "It would have been way more fun to just stay home. Not to mention easier." 

 

Adrien rolled his eyes but couldn't help the affectionate smile on his face. 

 

He pulled out his phone and texted Nino first, and then Chloe, telling them that he would going back to school the next day. 

 

Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye, a green flash just outside his window. 

 

Adrien ran over to look and looked down, scanning the ground for anything unusual. 

 

For just a second, he thought he saw something dark disappearing behind a bush, but he had no idea what it was, and the bush didn't seem to be moving, so he must have imagined it. 

 

Adrien frowned. "That's weird. There was another green flash, just a little while ago. Well, not really a flash. It almost liked like comet, only glowing and green. It was really weird." 

 

Plagg didn't respond, most likely because he didn't care, but possibly because he just wasn't paying attention and hadn't actually heard what Adrien had said. It was hard to tell with Plagg sometimes. 

 

Adrien stared out his window a moment longer. 

 

Then he shrugged and turned away from the window, looking back at his phone to read Nino and Chloe's reply texts. 

 

"I get to go back to school tomorrow," he sighed to himself with a happy smile. He was so glad, he almost couldn't believe it. 

 

Tomorrow was going to be a perfect day, and absolutely nothing could ruin it. 


	2. And Adrien Jinxed It

Today officially sucked.

It had started off well enough. Adrien's entire class had been excited to see him, not just Nino and Chloe. It was nice, to have so many friends.

Things had been fine right up until the bell rang, when he'd started walking to the school building.

And then the school building started to collapse. 

Just part of it at first, one section of wall breaking down. Then there were a series of crashes from inside the building, and Adrien's stomach twisted with the realization that if this kept up, the entire building was going to come down.

There were people in there. Adrien had to make sure they got out of there in time.

Which would be a lot easier to do as Chat Noir than as Adrien Agreste.

Fortunately, everyone was pretty distracted by the fact that chunks of school building were now falling from the front of the building as something- something big, it sounded like- slammed against the inside of the wall.

Students scrambled away from the entrance. Adrien moved forward and caught a girl as she fell, helping her to her feet and pulling her out of harm's way.

She broke away from him and ran from the school the second she was back on her feet and had her balance back.

That wasn't a bad idea.

He opened his mouth to yell, to tell everyone to get clear.

"Everyone get out of here now! Run! Get clear of the school!"

Adrien blinked in surprise and turned his head to look at the person yelling.

Marinette's eyes were alight with fiery determination. She stood with her back to the school, looking at the other students, her voice loud and calm. "You all need to get out of here now. It isn't safe here."

The other students obeyed her and started running away, giving Adrien the perfect chance to slip around the school and go in from the other side unnoticed.

Almost unnoticed.

For some reason that Adrien couldn't figure out, Marinette had felt the need to run around the school too, only the other direction. They both saw each other and stopped in front of the door.

"What are you here doing? I mean, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be running away?" Marinette asked.

Adrien smiled awkwardly at Marinette. "I could ask the same question," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"I just wanted to make sure no one was hurt," Marinette said, frowning slightly. "I know it's better to wait for the fire department, or Ladybug and Chat Noir, but I'm worried that there might not be time before someone gets really hurt."

Adrien nodded. "Me too."

Marinette's smile turned relieved. "Well, let's be fast, then."

They slipped inside the school. Adrien couldn't see what was causing it to crumble, but there were still some panicking people in here. Most of them seemed to be in the classrooms. From here, he could see that one of the classroom doors had been blocked by a chunk of rock. He didn't know where the rock had come from, but the important thing was to get them out, and everyone else out too.

"We need to get everyone out of the building. I'll go this way," Marinette said quickly, pointing to the left.

"I'll go this way," Adrien said, pointing to the right.

They parted ways, sprinting off in opposite directions.

Adrien ran up the stairs and pulled the door open to a classroom. No one was inside of it, so Adrien opened up his bag.

"Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg groaned loudly in protest even as he was sucked into the ring.

A moment later, Chat Noir slipped out the window and jumped down to come in through a window on the ground floor, just in case someone had seen Adrien Agreste run into that classroom.

A bunch of students looked at him, terrified. Most of them were hiding under desks. One of the seemed to be muttering something about a monster.

Chat Noir ran over and opened the door for them. "Everyone out of the building. Now," he said sternly.

They all ran out and booked it right for the exit.

This had to be the work of an akuma. Chat just needed to figure out where the super villain was so he and Ladybug could stop them.

Chat stepped out of the building. He heard a loud thud from one of the classrooms, but he also saw Ladybug, yo-yo wrapped around the chunk of rock, straining to lift it off of the door. If the building came down with those students still trapped inside...

Chat ran over to Ladybug, pulling out his baton as he went. He wedged it behind the rock and extended it as Ladybug pulled, sending the rock toppling clear of the door.

The students poured out of the classroom, running for the exits.

"Ladybug," Chat started to say, wanting to tell her about the thumping sound from the classroom.

But Ladybug pulled her yo-yo free of the rock and threw it again, wrapping it around the railing on the second floor. "I saw some students up there," she said, looking at Chat with a familiar determined look in her eyes. "I think one of them may have been hurt. I'll get them out. You take care of the students down here."

"Ladybug," Chat said again, but Ladybug gave her yo-yo a sharp tug, and then she was gone, flipping up over the balcony and disappearing into another classroom.

Chat couldn't blame her for panicking. Cracks were starting to form in the building walls. It was coming down soon.

He heard another thump from that classroom and turned around.

Well, someone was in there, either an akuma or some students. He might as well start there.

He ran towards the door.

He was only a few steps away when he heard a voice call out.

"Stop it right there, Chat Noir."

Chat Noir whirled around at the unexpected voice and found himself facing what could only be a supervillain.

Sure, her hair and her skin were both normal colors, which was unusual for one of Hawkmoth's akumatized villain, but not totally unheard of. Lila had looked pretty normal after all.

Her hair and skin color wasn't the only thing that was weird, though.

Her hair was long, and blond, and wavy, pulled up in a ponytail, but Chat Noir had spent enough time with models and hair stylists to notice that it had been put half up before it was pulled into the ponytail. One of the models he'd worked with on a shoot had done that once. The stylist had put her hair half up, but the day was hot and the second the shoot was over, she'd pulled it up into a ponytail to try and cut down on the heat.

It was weird to see this girl doing the same, because it was so... normal. Not exactly super villain-y.

But she was definitely a super villain. Normal citizens didn't wear super suits or masks, after all.

The top half of her mask was green, the bottom half mostly red, with a sliver of white lining the bottom of the mask. The suit was mostly green, but the was white, a v shape cut in the front of it to reveal a red collar underneath. Even from here, Chat could see that the underside of her gloves was white too, extending in a v shape partway up the underside of her arms.

And if the suit hadn't been enough proof that she was a villain, the sword that she was carrying would have done it. It was thin, obviously a rapier blade, but it didn't really look like a fencing blade. It was green and it was sharp. It looked like it was actually meant for slicing and stabbing people. The hilt looked like wings, wrapped around her hand. Her left hand, Chat noticed. 

And even more convincing than the sword was the way she was looking at him. Like he was her worst enemy. Civilians definitely didn't look at him like that.

"Stay out of there, Chat Noir," she snapped. "Or should I say Adrien Agreste."

Chat's eyes went wide. "I don't know what you're talking about. I mean, I know I'm hot, but I'm not actually a model," he said automatically, but on the inside, he was freaking out. How had this girl known his name? She didn't look like anyone he knew.

So how in the world could she possibly know who he was?


	3. And Something Was Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone who has read this work before:
> 
> CHAPTERS ONE AND TWO HAVE CHANGED. Drastically. You should definitely re-read them before you read this one, or you will be super confused.
> 
> Additionally, there's a pretty large note section in front of chapter one. It gives you an idea of how this story is going to work, since it's going to be told in two different points in time, and it's not going to be alternated every other chapter. You can understand the story without reading it, but if you find yourself with any questions, it very well might have the answers. And for any questions you have that are not answered there, feel free to ask!
> 
> Feedback is also welcome!

Ladybug used her yo-yo to lower the injured student to the ground from the window, since it was the fastest way to get them out. The friends of the hurt student, who she'd made leave and get out already, helped the student stand and get away from the building. 

 

Ladybug turned and headed back out of the classroom. 

 

Her intention was to keep going, make sure that the top floor was clear before she went downstairs to help Chat Noir. 

 

But then she heard Chat Noir's voice. He sounded tense. 

 

Something was wrong. 

 

Ladybug moved toward the balcony. 

 

Chat stood on the lower floor, not far from a classroom, talking to a girl. 

 

A girl dressed in a super suit. 

 

An akuma. 

 

"...a model," Chat was saying. 

 

Ladybug frowned. Was he hitting on the akuma? Ladybug wouldn't have put it past him, but he looked awfully tense, fear in his eyes. Something was wrong. 

 

Ladybug looked at the akuma Chat was talking to. She could only see part of the girl's face, but it was enough for Ladybug to see her smile slightly, the coldest smile she'd ever seen. "Of course you don't," the girl said. She turned her head slightly, looking behind her just as Ladybug leapt off the balcony to land behind her. "Nice of you to join us." 

 

Ladybug's eyes flicked to Chat. He was staring at her with wide eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights. He looked like he was terrified to see her, his partner. Ladybug hated that. 

 

What had the akumatized girl done to him? 

 

She seemed to be standing still, and Ladybug hadn't heard any fighting sounds, so it didn't seem like she'd attacked him. Maybe it was something she had said. 

 

Ladybug glared at the super villain. "Are you one of Hawkmoth's villains?" 

 

The girl's smile vanished, to be replaced by an expression much harsher. "You could say that." 

 

Chat tilted his head. He was clearly trying to look and sound relaxed, but Ladybug knew him well enough to read the tension in his body language and his voice. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what do you have against the school building?" 

 

The girl glanced at the cracks spreading up the walls. "I suppose this is my fault. But it's yours too. Yours and Ladybug's." 

 

"How is this our fault?" Ladybug asked, her eyes narrowed, her yo-yo already spinning. Bracing herself for a fight, but not attacking first. Something about this was... off. 

 

"You should have stopped him," the girl said, hatred seeping into her voice. She wasn't as... passionate as the villains normally were, but that hate had to be from Hawkmoth. People didn't direct hate like that at Ladybug and Chat without Hawkmoth's influence. 

 

"Who?" Chat asked, frowning. "Hawkmoth?" 

 

"That would have been nice," the girl said. "But you didn't, so now, I'm going to need your miraculouses, or people are going to get hurt." 

 

That was enough for Ladybug. She'd been holding back because the girl wasn't attacking, and didn't seem to want to, but she couldn't allow people to get hurt, and she wasn't going to hand over her miraculous. 

 

"That's not going to happen," Ladybug snapped. She threw her yo-yo at the girl. 

 

The girl turned slightly and raised her arm with lightning speed, using the sword in her hands to deflect it, sending it flying up into the air. 

 

Chat leapt into action, lunging at the girl, swinging his baton at her. 

 

The girl dropped took a few running steps toward him and then dropped to the ground, sliding underneath Chat's legs. She somersaulted and stood up with fluid grace, turning around to face them both, her legs spread to brace herself, her body turned to the side to minimize the target she presented to them, her sword raised in front of her. Her other hand was raised too, up by her face. 

 

And then she waited for them to come back at her. 

 

Ladybug frowned at her. This was definitely not how she expected an akumatized person to behave. Not trying to fool them like Lila, but not particularly aggressive either. 

 

There was a loud crashing sound, and the cracks in the buildings grew worse. 

 

"Stop that!" Ladybug snapped at the girl, even though she didn't know how she was doing it. 

 

"Give me your miraculouses, and I will," the girl said. 

 

Ladybug snarled and sent her yo-yo flying again as Chat came at the girl with his baton again. 

 

The girl moved with lighting speed, ducking around Chat, grabbing his arm, and throwing him neatly into the way so that Ladybug's yo-yo wrapped around him. 

 

Ladybug winced and pulled the yo-yo off of him, but it wasn't fast enough. 

 

The girl was moving, coming straight for Ladybug. 

 

Ladybug moved quickly sideways, giving herself more time pull her yo-yo back, and Chat more time to get up and get moving toward them. 

 

Ladybug's yo-yo hit her hand and she threw it again instantly, launching it at the girl. The girl knocked it away, but this time Ladybug was expecting that, and she yanked it back quickly and threw it again, backing it up as the girl kept coming toward her. 

 

The girl didn't knock it away this time, instead knocking the sword into the string itself, causing Ladybug's yo-yo to wrap around the sword. 

 

Before Ladybug could take advantage of that and pull the sword out of her hands, the girl threw herself forward, bringing her fist straight toward Ladybug's face. 

 

Ladybug grabbed her arm and twisted the girl into a flip. 

 

Or she tried to, at least. She got as far as grabbing the girl's arm, and then the girl spun into her, using her momentum to turn Ladybug around, putting Ladybug in between herself and Chat, who was lunging for her. 

 

Chat didn't have time to stop. Somehow, the girl twisted out of Ladybug's group and moved out of the way, shoving Ladybug as she went, leaving Ladybug no choice but to dodge out of the way the other direction. 

 

"You really should learn some new moves, Ladybug," the girl said, slipping Ladybug's yo-yo string off of her sword. 

 

Ladybug yanked her yo-yo back. "I think you'll find I've got plenty of moves," she said. She threw the yo-yo into the air. "Lucky charm!" 

 

But in the time it took for the lucky charm to appear and fall into her hands, a lot of things happened. 

 

A loud crash in the classroom closest to Chat made the building shake slightly. 

 

The girl ran forward. Chat moved to grab her, but she grabbed his arm and threw him away from her, and then lunged for the door of the classroom. 

 

The lucky charm landed in Ladybug's hand as the girl pulled the door open and disappeared inside it, pulling it closed behind her. 

 

Chat ran to the room and pulled the door opened, Ladybug following him inside. 

 

He ran to the large hole in the wall as she turned in a circle, scanning the room for anywhere the girl could be hiding, but she wasn't there. 

 

Chat stepped outside and scanned the rooftops and street. Then he turned back and looked at Ladybug, frowning. "I can't see her anywhere. It's weird. I didn't think she was that fast." 

 

Ladybug stared at him, still holding the lucky charm in her open hands. She looked down at it, her mind racing at a thousand miles an hour. "I'm not sure that she is. Something about this fight was... strange." 

 

Chat looked at the object in her hands and frowned. "Is that a pocket watch?" 

 

Ladybug opened it to expose the watch face. The time was set to four thirty-one, which was definitely not accurate. "Yeah, it is." 

 

"What does it mean?" Chat asked. 

 

Ladybug shook her head slowly. "I have no idea."


	4. Ladybug and Chat are Experiencing Deja Vu, But They're Probably Just Imagining It

"I love you, Ladybug." 

 

The voice was unfamiliar, but the words? Those were very familiar. 

 

Maybe that was why Ladybug was feeling such a strong sense of déjà vu. Because she'd heard them so many times before. 

 

Even the way they were spoken was familiar: fervent, but nervous, full of affection and an undeniable romantic meaning. 

 

Ladybug froze, her hands still wrapped around the yo-yo string. She turned her head to see who was addressing her, and got hit with another wave of déjà vu, though she couldn't say why. 

 

It was a boy, probably about her age, with blond hair and light blue eyes. He looked at her face with a hopeful kind of confidence, like he was waiting for her to jump into his arms and declared her undying love for him. 

 

Ladybug couldn't do that. Not just because she was in love with someone else, but because in spite of the déjà vu, she had no idea who this boy even was. 

 

"Um..." Ladybug glanced around quickly. Chat and the others had already gone, but there were still plenty of civilians around. She should probably try to put this delicately, to spare this boy as much embarrassment as possible. "That's very... flattering, and all, but I can't..." 

 

He cut her off, fiddling with something in his hands as he looked at her. It looked like some kind of locket. "You don't understand. I've been in love with you since you saved me three months ago! You held me in your arms, and I knew you were the one. You must have felt it too." 

 

Ladybug frowned. Even with that much context, she still had no memories of this guy. "I'm sorry, but..." 

 

He didn't wait for her to finish her sentence, words spilling out of him with nervous energy as he held his hands out toward desperately, like he was about to grab her. "There's a new restaurant that just opened up. Just go there with me this Friday. Let me show you. We are made for each other!" 

 

Ladybug's earrings beeped. She was running out of time, fast. "I can't do that. It's not safe. And I need to leave now." 

 

He lunged forward and grabbed her arm. "No, you have to go with me. I love you! It has to be you!" He held the locket out to her. "Here, this is for you. Just take it, please." 

 

Ladybug jerked away from him. "You don't know me. And there are plenty of people in Paris for you to love. I'm sorry." 

 

She pulled the yo-yo string and shot into the air before the guy could grab her again. 

 

***** 

 

Orange light bled off of Rena Rouge as her costume disappeared, until Alya was standing in her place. 

 

Alya sank down onto her bed. "I can't believe that akuma. That was ridiculous." 

 

Trixx hovered by her head. "It was. Still, you beat her with just Ladybug's luck chair. You guys have gotten pretty good." 

 

Alya pulled out of her phone to see if anyone had posted a video to the LadyBlog. A lot of her fans did that, since she had stopped recording most of the attacks. There were a couple videos up, but they were shaky and taken from some pretty useless angles. 

 

"Yeah," Alya said slowly, glancing briefly from her phone to Trixx. "Bu all five of us were there this time. It shouldn't have taken nearly so long." 

 

Trixx shrugged. "All that really matters is that the akuma is defeated. It may have taken you some time, but you had the akuma so distracted he didn't even do that much damage to the city. You kept the civilians safe and cured the villain. That's a win." 

 

"But we could have done it better," Alya said. "We already lost to Hawkmoth once. We can't afford to do it again." She squinted at the video. "Ladybug and Chat are pretty solid. They've really stepped up their game since they failed to take Hawkmoth's miraculous, especially Chat. But the rest of us..." She sighed and continued reluctance. We really need to improve." 

 

Trixx shrugged. He didn't seem too concerned, but Alya had had more than enough time with him to learn that things with Trixx weren't always how they seemed. "It's always good not to be complacent, but you shouldn't be too hard on yourself." 

 

Alya nodded. "Yeah, you're right." Stressing herself out wouldn't accomplish anything, except maybe making her even less useful. She had to stay calm and reasonable, even as she kept trying to improve her skills and bring down Hawkmoth. 

 

She pushed herself off the bed and wandered in the kitchen to get some food. Lucky Charm could fix pretty much anything, but it didn't work on mild hunger, possibly because it wasn't important enough. 

 

She pulled out a water bottle and some cantaloupe, dancing out of the way of her sisters as they tried to steal it from her. 

 

Then she heard something coming from the tv. 

 

"For the second time today, the city of Paris is under attack from an akuma." 

 

Alya's head snapped toward the tv. It showed an image of a boy with pink skin in an absolutely hideous pink and red outfit. He raised his hands like he was pleading, and red power washed out away from him, hitting the nearest civilian. That civilians skin turned pink. 

 

"It seems that his power allows him to make other civilians infatuated with Ladybug. They are currently tearing apart the city, looking for Ladybug, demanding that she join them and reveal her identity so that they can truly know her." 

 

Alya stared at the screen for a minute. "Okay, I knew the whole city was in love with Ladybug, but this is ridiculous," she muttered to herself. 

 

Then she ran back to her bedroom. 

 

***** 

 

Chat was on his way to stop the akuma when he saw something green out of the corner of his eye. 

 

Instantly, he got hit with a wave of déjà vu and a wave of nausea in the same moment, so strong he felt like he was about to throw up, or maybe just pass out. 

 

He felt disconnected from reality for a long moment. He blinked several times, trying to remember where he was and what was going on. 

 

Then he turned his head to look at the light. 

 

There was a girl dressed in a green super suit, her blond hair pulled half up. She was on her hands and knees one building over, panting like she'd just run a marathon. Or maybe two. 

 

Warning bells went off in Chat's head, but he needed to make sure she was okay. 

 

He ran, jumping onto the next building, moving toward her. "Are you alright?" 

 

Her head raised, and her eyes widened when she saw him. "NO!" She fell backwards as she screamed, scrambling like she was trying to get away from him, like she was scared of him, but that was impossible. "Stay away from me!" 

 

Or maybe it wasn't so impossible. 

 

Chat stopped dead in his tracks. "Stop," he said, raising his hands. "You're getting too close to the..." 

 

The girl's hands slipped off the edge as she scrambled backwards, and she fell off the edge. 

 

Chat ran forward to the edge. He saw the girl falling from the building. 

 

He was about to leap after her, but then there was another flash of green light, and the girl was gone. 

 

And Chat's brain felt like it was about to explode. He fell to his knees, holding his head in his hands as the pressure increased to a level he almost couldn't stand. 

 

An image flashed through his mind: a girl in a green suit, her hair pulled up in a ponytail, a sword in her hands. She looked at him with cold blue eyes. "Stay out of there, Chat. Or should I say, Adrien Agreste." 

 

Chat gasped as the image faded from his mind, his eyes open wide. 

 

Where had that come from? He had no memories of something like that happening. 

 

He shook his head hard. He needed to go help Ladybug stop the akuma. 

 

So Chat got to his feet and ran, leaving all thoughts of the girl in the green and the memories of her saying his name behind him.


End file.
